The Wedding Dance
by Pandora of Ithilien
Summary: What if Sam and Jack met before they were at the SGC? What if it was at a wedding? Would they remember it years later? Would it matter at all? I know this has been done before, but I wanted to try it.


1Disclaimer: Sam and Jack aren't mine, but any friends or family of theirs who have not been mentioned in the show are mine.

Jack O'Neill wasn't usually insane, but he was sure this came close. Jack was 25, a Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, and was currently wearing a highly uncomfortable rented tux, because he had agreed to be best man at the wedding of his old high school buddy Chris Nelson to a woman named Chelsea Pierce. Jack was happy for Chris, and he liked Chelsea, but he hated fancy stuff like this.

A half-hour later, Jack was standing in the vestibule of the church, waiting for the signal that they were to go in, glancing at Chelsea's maid of honor, her twin sister Carla. He had to walk with Carla, and they were supposed to be near each other so they were ready, but she was busy talking to Marie, one of the bridesmaids.

"You look bored," a matter-of-fact voice said from behind him. Jack turned to see a girl of about 16. She had blond hair currently falling in loose curls to her shoulders, and she was really pretty - for a kid.

"Uh, yeah... but who are you?" The girl grinned. Jack continued, "Because I never talk to girls I don't know. It's not safe." She laughed.

"Samantha Carter, but call me Sam. Do you have a name?" Jack raised a brow at that. She was good. She was still grinning, and her eyes glinted with mischief. Jack shrugged.

"I'm Jack O'Neill, two l's," he informed Sam. "I'm guessing you're a bridesmaid? The dress fits." She rolled her eyes.

"Two l's, huh?" she remarked. "Yes, I'm a bridesmaid. Chelsea is my cousin. Our smallest cousin, Mallory, is over there." She pointed to a little girl who was being entertained by a brown-haired man who looked about 19. "She's the flower girl, and that idiot playing with her is my brother Mark. He's a groomsman. And I know you're the best man because Chris mentioned you. He told Carla to watch out because you're apparently a flirt."

Jack smirked. "Well, I have been known for..." but then the signal came and they had to get in place and walk out.

Several hours later, the reception was in full swing, and Sam was completely bored. The few other girls near her age were ogling Chris's cute friends. Sam had no patience for boy-obsessed girls, but then, her eyes strayed a bit to one guy in particular...

A male voice said lightly from behind her, "Bored?" Sam spun to see Jack standing there. He grinned impishly as she glared at him. She scowled, nodding. "Good," he said. "Want to dance?" She stared at him.

"What?" he wanted to know. "It's a wedding. Everyone dances." Sam shook her head.

"I'm 16, you're about 25, isn't that a little weird?" she pointed out. Jack was about to answer when Chris sauntered over. He'd heard them.

"Nah, Sam, not at a wedding. Still, watch this one. I did warn you." Sam shrugged, looking unconcerned.

As it turned out, she should have been concerned. Just as they went onto the floor, what should begin playing but a slow dance? Ironic timing, she thought ruefully. Jack seemed to find it amusing, though. He smirked at her and led her into the dance gracefully.

Shit, Jack thought behind the smirk. What the Hell am I doing? Dancing with a 16-year-old would normally have been a joke, but... there was something about this kid. It wasn't really a sexual thing, more just that... well, the problem was, he wasn't sure what it was.

Sam wondered why she was suddenly feeling so odd. It was almost like... uh-oh, she said to herself. Please, don't let me get a crush on this guy! That would be bad. She decided to distract herself and make small talk. "So, Jack, what do you do, anyway?" He frowned, then said he was a USAF Lieutenant. Oh yeah, Sam decided, stay away from this one, Carter.

Jack was relieved when Sam started talking. It was helpful. "So, what do you want to do once you're done with school?" he asked, and was stunned when she said that she wanted to be

an astronaut. He teased her about wanting to meet aliens, causing her to reply, "Well, flyboys only take the job so they can flirt with girls from all over the world." Jack shook his head, not bothering to respond.

And then the song ended. Jack and Sam left the dance floor, and went back to their previous activities. They didn't talk again. All that happened was, at the very end of the party, their eyes met as Sam was leaving. An odd spark seemed to fly between them, and it sent a shock through each of their systems.

Years went by (fourteen, to be exact). Sam never became an astronaut; instead, she joined the Air Force herself, flew in the Gulf, got engaged to and then broke up with a fellow officer, and then was assigned to the Pentagon where she got involved in something that made NASA seem like child's play.

Jack's life changed too. About three years after the wedding, he met a woman named Sara Corlies. They soon married and had a son, Charlie. Jack fought in the Gulf too, and was a POW, but he never saw Sam. They never had the same assignment. Then Jack's son died and a year later, he went on a 'suicide' mission through a big metal ring. Sadly, in his mind, he came back, and found Sara gone.

Another year went by, and then Jack found himself recalled to the base where he had once traveled to another planet. There had been an alien attack and something had to be done. Which was why he was now in a briefing room waiting for the general. When Hammond walked in, he mentioned a Captain Carter. Jack wanted to know where the man was coming from and had just asked when a feminine, somehow familiar voice said, "_She_ is transferring from the Pentagon." A woman with short blond hair walked in, continuing, "I take it you're Colonel O'Neill. Captain Samantha Carter reporting, sir." Shit, Jack thought. Sam from that wedding. It had to be her, with those blue eyes that glinted once again with mischief as she fended off Kawalski's barbs.

Sam knew that her new CO was Jack, the man who she'd had a crush on for about a year after that wedding. What the Hell was going to happen now?

So more time (eight years) went by, and both Sam and Jack came to hate the USAF (or at least, some of its more inconvenient rules) until one day at a cabin in Minnesota, where their relationship finally went where it should have gone long ago.

The next time they danced together at a wedding, it was their own. Jack whispered in Sam's ear, "So, still think it's a little weird, dancing with me?" She smiled slowly but said nothing at all.

A/N: OK, that was cheesy for sure, but I've read other fics where Sam and Jack meet pre-SGC and I had to try it.


End file.
